Auckland Island snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica) are presumed to have occurred throughout the Auckland Island archipelago but became restricted to a subset of the islands following mammal introductions. Snipe were known to have survived on Adams Island, Ewing Island, and Disappointment Island. However, it is uncertain whether snipe were continually present on Enderby Island and/or adjacent Rose Island. These islands lie near Ewing Island, and both hosted a suite of introduced mammals until the last species were eradicated in 1993. Using SNPs generated by ddRAD-Seq we identified four genetically distinct groups of snipe that correspond to the expected three refugia, plus a fourth comprised of Enderby Island and Rose Island. Each genetic group also exhibited private microsatellite alleles. We suggest that snipe survived in situ on Rose and/or Enderby Island in the presence of mammals, and discuss the conservation implications of our findings.

Kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) are the only parrot species known to have a lek-based mating system. In competing for mating opportunities with females, males can fight intensely with one another, sometimes with fatal consequences. Males may have evolved more deeply hooked bills and raptorial claws than females if these confer advantage in conflicts with other males. We studied bill and claw shape in 28 museum specimens using geometric morphometrics and found no sex differences. While no claw shape sex differences were identified, we did find kākāpō lateral claws are significantly more hooked than their medial toe claws which are flatter. Claw shape in other parrot species has not yet been analysed via geometric morphometric methods, it is therefore unknown whether this claw-shape configuration is unique to kākāpō.

Discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to determine gender and geographic variation in the morphometrics of white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) measured from fisheries bycatch in New Zealand. Samples were divided into 5 clusters based on capture location. A DFA model was created using adult breeding birds presumed to be from the 2 main locations at the Auckland Islands and Antipodes Islands. Geographic variation in head and bill, skull width, culmen, culmen depth at base, culmen width at base, right and left mid-toe and claw, tail, and right and left wing was found between birds presumed to be from the ‘Auckland’ and ‘Antipodes’ clusters, with ‘Antipodes’ birds being generally larger than ‘Auckland’ birds. Gender variation in head and bill, skull width, culmen, culmen depth at base, culmen width at base, minimum bill depth, right and left mid-toe and claw, right wing, right and left tarsus existed for ‘Auckland’ birds. Gender variation in head and bill, skull width, culmen, culmen depth at base, culmen width at base, minimum bill depth, right and left mid-toe and claw, and tail existed for ‘Antipodes’ birds. Birds in the other 3 clusters were classified as originating from the Auckland Islands or Antipodes Islands. The clustering suggested that birds from the Auckland Islands tended to forage mostly north and west, whereas birds from the Antipodes Islands foraged mostly towards the north. There were large overlaps at Puysegur Point and particularly the Chatham Rise of birds from both breeding locations. This study shows the usefulness of bycatch necropsies, and emphasises the need for further studies in geographic variation and sexual dimorphism at all New Zealand breeding locations.

Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) currently breeds only in 2 colonies in the Seaward Kaikoura mountains, South Island, New Zealand. Conservation measures now include re-locating young to establish a new low altitude colony. To assess the genetic similarity of birds breeding in the 2 colonies as a basis for decisions on sourcing recruits to the present and potentially other new colonies, we genotyped 9 microsatellite loci, with 3-13 alleles, in 30 birds from the Kowhai River catchment colony and 29 from Shearwater Stream. There was no significant population genetic differentiation between the 2 sampling locations. Our results suggest that there would be little genetic risk to mixing birds from both relict colonies in newly established colonies. Future analyses of the former distributions of Hutton’s shearwater, the fluttering shearwater (P. gavia), and the extinct Scarlett’s shearwater (P. spelaeus) will require an analysis of the levels of genetic similarity between birds from the relict colonies and those of former, widely separated colonies.